DAVIDSON, N.C. (Nov. 15, 2024) – Coming off a three-game homestand, the ETSU men's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season as the Buccaneers take on Davidson on Saturday evening. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. inside John M. Belk Arena.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 16
TIME: 5 p.m.
LOCATION: John M. Belk Arena 
TEAMS: ETSU (2-1) at Davidson (2-0)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+  (Tom Werme & Sam Goldfarb)
LIVE STATS: DavidsonWildcats.com
RADIO: None
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
TICKETS: ETSUTickets.com
GAME SPONSOR: Johnny Brusco's
 
ABOUT THE BUCS
·      ETSU is 2-1 through its first three games
·      The Bucs bounced back with an 82-54 win over Tusculum on Wednesday night inside Freedom Hall
·      ETSU scored 50 first-half points against the Pioneers, while the Buccaneer bench accounted for 52 points
·      ETSU's bench shot 65 percent from the field (20-31) and 58 percent from beyond the arc (7-12)
·      As a team, ETSU made 32 field goals, shot 55 percent (32-58) from the floor and 52 percent from three-point range (11-21)
·      Defensively, the Bucs registered 16 steals, marking just the 16th time since 2004-05 ETSU has had at least 16 steals in a game … The 16 steals were the most by an ETSU team since Jan. 11, 2023, when the Bucs also had 16 swipes in a 96-74 win at The Citadel
·      Maki Johnson led the Bucs with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long distance
·      Twelve different Bucs reached the scoring column, including David Meriwether netting his first collegiate points in his collegiate debut
·      Jaden Seymour, who is nearing the 1,000-point milestone, is averaging 15.0 points
·      Seymour is 32 points away from 1,000 for his career and 43 away from 1,000 for his ETSU career … Seymour has played in 98 games as a Buc where he has totaled 947 points, 562 rebounds, 105 assists and 78 blocks
·      Jaden Seymour will be playing in his 100th game in a Buccaneer uniform on Saturday … Of the previous 99 games played, Seymour has made 82 starts … Seymour has scored in double figures in 51 of those contests and has scored points in 94 of those games
·      This will mark the second straight season ETSU is facing a former SoCon foe in the road opener … Last season, the Blue & Gold took on Elon in their road opener where ETSU fell 79-76 on Nov. 9, 2023 ... ETSU has lost its last four road openers with its last win coming in the 2019-20 season when the Bucs won at UT-Martin on Nov. 9 … The Bucs are the last SoCon team to play a true road game … ETSU is looking to join Furman (Belmont) and VMI (Bellarmine) as the only SoCon teams with a true road win this year … The SoCon is 2-10 in true road games so far this season
·      After netting a season-high 11 three-pointers on Wednesday night, ETSU has now made at least one three-pointer in 1,162 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country
·      ETSU was picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll … The Bucs picked up two first-place votes, while reigning champion Samford was pegged number one and Chattanooga was selected second
·      Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors
·      ETSU received 19 votes in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll
·      The Bucs return 10 players from last year's 2023-24 roster
·      ETSU only lost 8% of its scoring and 9% of its minutes played from last year's roster to the transfer portal – the fewest amount of production from any SoCon program 
·      Coach Savage and his staff brought in five new players to complete the 2024-25 roster … The five newcomers include four transfers – Curt Lewis (Missouri), John Buggs III (North Texas), Davion Bradford (Wake Forest) and Roosevelt Wheeler (VCU) … In addition, true freshman Brandon Crawford is the fifth Buccaneer newcomer
 
ABOUT DAVIDSON  
·      Davidson won its first two games to open the season and sit 2-0 entering Saturday's non-conference game
·      The Wildcats opened the year with an 88-47 win over William Peace and followed that up with a 91-85 victory at Bowling Green last Friday
·      Davidson has three players averaging over 17 point per game – Connor Kochera (21.0), Reed Bailey (17.5) and Bobby Durkin (17.5)
·      Bailey is also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and Kochera is at 5.5 boards per contest
·      Durkin is shooting 64 percent from beyond the arc (7-11) and 69 percent from the field (11-16)
·      Bailey earned third team preseason all-conference honors after posting 12.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game last year
·      Kochera, Bailey and Durkin are three returning starters from last year's team
 
SERIES HISTORY
·       Saturday is the 47th all-time meeting between the two programs
·       Davidson holds a 26-20 advantage in the series
·       ETSU has won four of the last five and seven of the last 10, including last year's thrilling 70-68 win in Johnson City
·       Karon Boyd (17 points) and Quimari Peterson (14 points) combined for 31 points, while the Bucs outscored the Wildcats by 10 (47-37) in the second half to rally for the victory
·       Saturday marks the Bucs' first trip to Davidson since Jan. 26, 2005, while ETSU is looking for its first win at Davidson since Feb. 15, 2003 (87-72)
 
UP NEXT
ETSU returns home to host its MTE, which begins Friday night against USC Upstate at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.